Tutor and Pupil

1685 · National Gallery of Art, Washington

portrait

Largillière started his career in France with the particular variation of the idiom of the Netherlands which was current in England about 1680, and during the first twenty years after his transfer to Paris we find him adapting it to suit the taste of his country. In some portraits he applies the English convention directly, but in most cases he combines elements from it with other devices. For instance, in the portrait of a tutor and his pupil, the angular draperies of the pupil and the schematic drawing of his face belong to the English convention, whereas the head of the tutor is in a quite different vein of naturalism, suggesting rather a knowledge of Dutch painting.

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About the Artist

Nicolas de Largillière

1656 – 1746

Nicolas de Largillière (Largillierre) was born in Paris but passed his youth in Antwerp and, from c. 1674, spent some years in England as Lely 's assistant. He was thus almost a Flemish painter when he returned to Paris in 1682. He became a member of the Academy in 1686 and ultimately its Director. His principal rival was Rigaud, but Largillière specialized in portraits of the wealthy middle classes, leaving the aristocrats to Rigaud. There are typical examples in London (National Gallery and Wallace Collection), New York (Metropolitan Museum), and Paris (Louvre). The S. Geneviève (Paris, S. Étienne) is the only survivor of the large ex-voto type of picture that he painted for the Corporations. He also painted a few pictures of still-life.

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